Lebanese Interior Minister to Asharq Al-Awsat: We Fear Chaos, Further Deterioration of Security

Lebanese caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi. (AFP file photo)
Lebanese caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi. (AFP file photo)
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Lebanese Interior Minister to Asharq Al-Awsat: We Fear Chaos, Further Deterioration of Security

Lebanese caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi. (AFP file photo)
Lebanese caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi. (AFP file photo)

The deterioration of security and safety is another concern added to the Lebanese people’s massive financial, economic, social and political problems.

Security had been largely maintained in recent months, but as the people plunge deeper in crisis, the threat of instability grows.

The dire economy has led to a rise in crime and theft. Some people have said they no longer go out at night except for emergencies, they no longer travel long distances, avoid heading to ATMs at night and no longer wear precious jewelry.

Thefts and muggings have been reported across the country in recent days. A fuel tanker was forced to stop and its shipment seized. Drivers delivering baby milk and medical supplies have also been stopped.

In one incident, one citizen was lured to the town of al-Khodr near the international highway in eastern Lebanon and was robbed of his oil shipment, worth 20 million liras, or 13,000 dollars according to the official exchange rate.

Reports have also said that people exiting supermarkets have been robbed of their groceries.

Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi said that he had warned back in March that Lebanon was on the verge of major social insecurity.

“Many people are hungry. They can tolerate many things, except seeing their children go hungry,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“As long as the situation persists, then chaos will grow, but it will not turn into total chaos,” he added.

“We will use all of our might to uphold the law and protect the people and public and private properties,” he vowed.

Information International reported a rise in murder and theft since the beginning of 2021. Murder has risen 45.5 percent and theft by 144 percent.

CEO of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis – Inegma, Riad Kahwaji said the situation will deteriorate even further given that the dispute to form a new government and tackle the country’s economic crisis is unlikely to be resolved any time soon.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that as the local currency weakens the people will find themselves confronted with more challenges in securing their daily needs.

He warned that the basic security, economic, food, education, environment, health, political and social essentials are lacking in Lebanon.

Meeting these needs is the responsibility of the state, which it has failed to do, rendering Lebanon a failed state, he added.

Kahwaji said it was normal to witness a rise in theft and crime. “Lebanon is in a state of freefall and no one knows how and when this tragedy will end.”

Given the mounting insecurity, people have resorted to protecting their homes, such as installing new doors or acquiring guard dogs.

Randa al-Habr, 44, told Asharq Al-Awsat: “This is the first time in years that I no longer feel safe.”

“I don’t feel safe at home or on the street. Unfortunately, I believe immigration is the only way out for me,” she lamented.



Israeli War Planes Pound Beirut Suburb, Hezbollah Strikes Back

 Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburb of Beirut known as Dahiyeh, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP)
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburb of Beirut known as Dahiyeh, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP)
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Israeli War Planes Pound Beirut Suburb, Hezbollah Strikes Back

 Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburb of Beirut known as Dahiyeh, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP)
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburb of Beirut known as Dahiyeh, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP)

The Israeli military pounded Beirut's southern suburbs with airstrikes on Tuesday, mounting one of its heaviest daytime attacks yet on the Hezbollah-controlled area after the defense minister ruled out a ceasefire until Israeli goals were met.

Smoke billowed over Beirut as around a dozen strikes hit the southern suburbs from mid-morning. After posting warnings to civilians on social media, the Israeli military said it had struck Hezbollah targets in the Dahiyeh area of southern Beirut, including command centers and weapons production sites.

It said it had taken steps to reduce harm to civilians and repeated its standing accusation that Hezbollah deliberately embeds itself into civilian areas to use residents as human shields, a charge Hezbollah rejects.

In northern Israel, two people were killed in the city of Nahariya when a residential building was hit by a missile, Israeli police said.

Israelis were forced to take shelter across the north as attack drones were launched from Lebanon, the military said. One hit the yard of a kindergarten in a Haifa suburb, where the children had been rushed into a shelter, rescue workers said. None were hurt.

An Israeli strike back across the border killed five people in the Lebanese village of Baalchmay southeast of Beirut, and five more were killed in a strike on the town of Tefahta in the south, Lebanon's health ministry said. Another person was killed in a strike in Hermel in the northeast, it said.

Beirut residents have largely fled the southern suburbs since Israel began bombing it in September. Footage of one strike shared on social media showed two missiles slamming into a building of around 10 storeys, demolishing it and sending up clouds of debris.

Ignited by the Gaza war, the conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah had been rumbling on for a year before Israel went on the offensive in September, pounding wide areas of Lebanon with airstrikes and sending troops into the south.

Israel has dealt Hezbollah heavy blows, killing many of its leaders including Hassan Nasrallah, flattening large areas of the southern suburbs, destroying border villages in the south, and striking more widely across Lebanon.

Since hostilities erupted a year ago, Israeli attacks have killed at least 3,287 people in Lebanon, the majority in the last seven weeks, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Its figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Hezbollah attacks have killed about 100 civilians and soldiers in northern Israel, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and southern Lebanon over the last year.

WAR GOALS

Israel's new defense minister Israel Katz said on Monday there would be no ceasefire in Lebanon until Israel achieves its goals.

"Israel will not agree to any arrangement that does not guarantee Israel's right to enforce and prevent terrorism on its own, and meet the goals of the war in Lebanon - disarming Hezbollah and its withdrawal beyond the Litani River and returning the residents of the north safely to their homes," he said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar had said earlier on Monday there had been "a certain progress" in ceasefire talks but the main challenge facing any ceasefire deal would be enforcement.

The Lebanese government, which includes Hezbollah, has repeatedly called for a ceasefire based on the full implementation of a UN resolution that ended a war between the group and Israel in 2006.

The resolution calls for the area south of the Litani to be free of all weapons other than those of the Lebanese state. Lebanon and Israel have accused each other of violating the resolution.

Israel's offensive has driven more than 1 million people from their homes in Lebanon, causing a humanitarian crisis.

Hezbollah rocket fire into northern Israel has forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate the area over the last year.